Communism and Capitalism both fear Creationism

Recently two biology textbooks (for grades 9 and 10) from a Christian-creationist
perspective have been made available to the general public in my former homeland,
Romania.1,2 The subtitle is quite indicative of the content:
‘Divine craftsmanship and brilliance in the biosphere’.

Apart from scientific information, these textbooks contain segments with headings
like, ‘Express your opinions’, ‘Analogies’, ‘Did you
know?’, and ‘Things to ponder’, as well as 20 color plates. The
textbooks are the result of the joint efforts of biologists and theologians from
various denominations.

After 42 years of growing communist oppression, Romanians have embraced religion
not just as an antidote to atheistic/Darwinian indoctrination but also as a way
to reconnect to their nearly 2,000-year-old Christian traditions. Religion is taught
today in public schools from grades 1 to 12 (unless explicit exemption requests
are filed by parents).

Unfortunately, as Romania has joined the European Union, this may not last too long.
There are already reports of pressure from the European Parliament to adjust the
educational system to EU standards.

Many of the former communist countries that were not immediately embraced by European
Union members (as were East Germany, The Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary) have
followed the same path as Romania, towards tradition and away from Darwinism. In
2004, Ljljana Colic, the Minister of Education of Serbia, created quite a stir when
requesting that Darwinian evolution be not taught in Serbia during that year, until
an alternative would be available.3,4

But that was too revolutionary even for a conflict-torn country like Serbia, so
that decision was soon reversed following the pressures of the scientific community,
whose views were clearly expressed by biologist Nikola Tučič: ‘We
are slowly turning into a theocratic state and in the 21st Century we are going
back to the Book of Revelations.’5

… issues that are considered politically incorrect, and even illegal, in the cradle of modern democracy—the West—can be and are being debated publicly and openly in former communist countries!

Giertych, who is also a founder of the ultra-right conservative party LPR, represented
in the European Parliament, has taken the debate to that forum, triggering a very
angry response from the EP members. The many accusations, answered by Giertych,
revealed the inability of even such a high-level forum to approach this foundational
topic in a democratic and rational manner.7

For Western Christians analyzing these developments, it confirms the profound need
of most people (even after many decades of brutal atheistic indoctrination) for
belief in God. It is also amazing to realize how issues that are considered politically
incorrect, and even illegal, in the cradle of modern democracy—the West—can
be and are being debated publicly and openly in former communist countries! For
those who, like me, have experienced life under communism, it seems a bitter irony
indeed to see how the way any alternative thinking like creationism is suppressed
today in the so-called ‘free world’ is almost a carbon copy of the ‘one
party—one idea’ mentality of communist regimes. It’s almost as
if European communism has not died, it’s simply received a face-lift and crossed
the oceans.

Published: 24 August 2007(GMT+10)

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